Family Knives

This thread has been a great read. I don't have any of my grandfather's knives and only two of my dad's and one of my father-in-law's. My dad was pretty fond of prying stuff open with his pocket knives and they both show the effects. Other than the broken tips on a couple of blades, they are in pretty nice condition. My F-I-L's pocket knife is a camillus with a lot of wear and tear and the cell scales are all but falling off. I keep it because it was his and while he was living he treated me as if I was his own child. I am extemely lucky to have married the sweet lady I did and to have lived with and loved her family as they did me. My Mother in law, what a sweet sweet woman!! She's still living and a wonderful testimony every day. Her will is much stronger than her frail body.

Ed J
 
Hey Dan....dont forget to give us an update of your cleaning up, and how those great old knives are now mate :cool:
 
Great story and great collection, I still have a few of my Old Man's knives and one my cousin gave me a couple years back that belonged to my grandfather.
 
Campbellclanman said:
Hey Dan....dont forget to give us an update of your cleaning up, and how those great old knives are now mate :cool:
Click to expand...

ARG, I've been lagging brother. I've been to the dentist three times this week and having a root canal tomm. The knife project has been postponed. I got a sweet knife at a pawn shop today though...my 'reward' for having to have a root canal...Brand new yellow Camillus muskrat in the box. I'll post pics tomm.

THanks for all the positive comments y'all! And thanks for keeping me honest, Duncan! Next week for sure.
 
I noticed you made mention of the nick in the one blade, and I noticed the same in another. I have a friend who is an electrician, that carrys a Case Barlow with a nick that he purposely filed into the blade, to assist in stripping wire insulation and cable jackets. Just an idea... do you know if any of the two owners were electricians or electrical tinkerers?
 
I have not gotten around to working on these knives, but I will next week. Dental drama and other BS intervened.
 
This was my Grandfathers knife, he used it 35 years ago the last time I saw him, (I was 15 then) to cut Kielbasa and smoked/cured meats in the pantry for our afternoon meals along with cutting up bread and onions and peppers to go with the ham.

prunera.jpg


My cousin found it in the basement and gave it to me as a gift when I went home.

It's gotta be over 65 years old and other than the pitting/character it's as strong as the day he let me use it to cut myself a piece of kielbasa the last day I saw him.

prunerc.jpg


I hadn't even thought of that day or the knife in nearly 35 years, her giving me that knife brought a tear to this old Mad Hungarians eye.


It says Gerlach Poland on the tang I'm not even sure what kind of wood it has for handles, anyone ever seen or heard of this brand.

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The funny part, when my grandfather died 30 years ago his daughter in law threw it out and my cousin who's my age (50) garbage picked it and saved that and his Bull Horn that he used to keep his sharpening stone in and hanging on his belt for sharpening his scythe when working in the fields, the horn has to be 100+ years old.

Three more pictures to finish this story:

First is the horn my grandfather had that he kept the sharpening stone in:

horn.jpg


Here's a picture of my grandfather and 6 of my mother's brothers and sisters, if you look on his belt you'll see the horn hanging:

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For the old folk with bi-focals here's a closeup:

grnpalrga.jpg


I love family history, this story was posted in this link before here when I came back from vacation in Hungary a few years ago.
 
Wow!!..Ted, those photos with that story and grand old knife is just fantastic, when you look at those photos, we as people today realy have nothing to moan about-as the earlier genrations have had to endure the hard labour and knew the true meaning of hard work, although I have worked extremely hard physically all my life, Im sure it wasnt as much as earlier folk...I really appreciate seeing these old photos.

Here is a link...maybe it shea wee bit of info..

commercial vendor link removed by moderators. duncan, please share such info privately.
 
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commercial vendor link removed by moderators. duncan, please share such info privately.[/QUOTE]

My apologies Elliot, a total misthought of mine, absoluteltly no underlying intention of any sort.
 
Great thread
Great stories
Great PICS!!!

Pretty sure this one is a Camillus "Sword and Shield" knife??
DSCF5700.jpg
 
thrilling thread, got a chill on my spine looking at the pics
amazing looking pieces, pieces of history that got used really in life
Maxx
 
Trent Rock said:
Great thread
Great stories
Great PICS!!!

Pretty sure this one is a Camillus "Sword and Shield" knife??
DSCF5700.jpg
Click to expand...

Yep, you are correct. Sorry, the "mystery" is who it belonged to. Thanks for reading the posts and contributing everybody!
 
I have a pocket knife from my father in law that was in really bad shape. It has a lot of miles and a lot of years on it. I just keep it because of what he meant to me. It would be scrap or junk to anybody else, but it means a lot to me. I also have two of my dad's schrade stockmen, an 881 (I think) and a 34 OT, both of them have tips missing off of a couple blades, but the knives themselves are in decent condition.

Ed J
 
Gentlemen, those are some real treasures.

Almost everything of this sort has been lost, sold, or thrown away in my family.

I have an old fixed blade that may or may not have belonged to my maternal grandfather or uncle. I found it in the dirt outside their garage decades after their deaths. My grandmother didn't recognize it as belonging to either of them in particular. Everything else is long gone.

My paternal grandfather died when I was still very young. I don't even know if he carried a pocket knife. I have one of his four-way screwdrivers, and some other neat stuff.

My father has some stories about a shoebox full of WWI bayonets that just disappeared. He thinks it was thrown away by one of his aunts.
 
OK. I have lagged so much on cleaning these knives. No more. They are soaking in FRESH (Duncan!) mineral oil right now. The Case got some attention with some silver polish on the blades to get the tarry gunk off. Worked great. I have to admit, in addition to be a lagger, I was intimidated by these knives. Still am. But I want to get them nice and I plan to use them, too. I asked myself, what would their original owners of thought. They would have all said, "You're gonna keep em in a box? Is you tetched in the head, son?" If I lose one, so be it. I have already gained so much.
 
Great posts guys. Got me all choked up a few times. I'd be proud to own any one of those knives.
 
Hey guys...here is a photo of my two favourite knives, or should I say two precious knives that mean a lot, do you mind Dan?..please let me know brother and I will amend this...
By the way, there are some damned cool knives in there my friend.
I posted this photo in another thread a while ago....the Wildcat Imperial ( wooden handle) is my brothers knife, the other is my best mates, I knew this guy for 35 years, he died just over a year ago, and I remember posting a thread in W& C while Gary was dying...anyway..the old German knife was his Dads, I have since 0000 grade steel wooled the the blade ( which doesnt take away the patina ) the blade, cleaned off the paint specs off the imitation Stag, bathed in Mineral oil ( clean Dan :D ) I promised to clean up the knife for him and I didnt get to do it before he left us, done now ......and looks a 100% better so .here they are as horrible as they may seem...

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Of course I don't mind, Duncan. C'mon, brother. :)

I enjoyed seeing these knives before and again. Sometimes the sentiment makes the knife for sure.
 
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